System and method for identifying when a water-sports participant has fallen

ABSTRACT

A boat, boat systems, and methods to determine when a water-sports participant has fallen. The boat may include an image sensor and an image processor communicatively coupled to the image sensor. The image sensor is configured to capture at least one image of the environment aft of the stern of the boat. The image processor is configured to execute a rider-down analysis that includes analyzing, using an object recognition process executed by the image processor, an image to be analyzed to determine if a water-sports participant has fallen. The boat may include a controller configured to execute a rider-down action when the water-sports participant has fallen. The controller may execute the rider-down action when the image processor determines that the water-sports participant has fallen based upon the rider-down analysis.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 63/218,254, filed Jul. 2, 2021, andtitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING WHEN A WATER-SPORTSPARTICIPANT HAS FALLEN,” the entirety of which is incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to boats, particularly boats used for watersports.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Boats are used to tow water-sports participants, such as water skiers,wakeboarders, and the like, using a towline. For water skiing andwakeboarding, the participant holds onto one end of the towline and theother end is attached to the boat. For tubing, the towline is attachedto the tube, and the water-sports participant(s) holds onto the tube. Aboat may also be used to generate a wake on which a water-sportsparticipant, such as a wake surfer or foiler, may wake surf or foil,generally without holding onto a towline, once they get going. In eachof these activities, the water-sports participant is located behind(aft) of the boat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the invention relates to a boat including an imageprocessor and/or a controller configured to determine if a water-sportsparticipant has fallen. The controller may be configured to execute arider-down action when the image processor determines that thewater-sports participant has fallen.

In another aspect, the invention relates to methods for determining if awater-sports participant has fallen. The method may include analyzing,using an object recognition process executed by an image processor, animage to be analyzed to determine if the water-sports participant hasfallen. The image to be analyzed includes the environment aft of thestern of a boat.

In a further aspect, the invention relates to a boat including a stern,an image sensor, an image processor communicatively coupled to the imagesensor, and a controller communicatively coupled to the image processor.The image sensor is positioned on the boat to have a field of view of anenvironment aft of the stern of a boat. The image sensor is configuredto capture at least one image of the environment aft of the stern of aboat. The environment captured in the at least one image includes awater surface aft of the boat. The image processor is configured toexecute a rider-down analysis. The rider-down analysis includesreceiving the at least one image from the image sensor and analyzing,using an object recognition process executed by the image processor, animage to be analyzed to determine if a water-sports participant hasfallen. The image to be analyzed includes the at least one imagecaptured by the image sensor. The controller is configured to execute arider-down action based upon the rider-down analysis. The controllerexecutes the rider-down action when the image processor determines thatthe water-sports participant has fallen.

In a still another aspect, the invention relates to a boat including astern, an image sensor, and an image processor communicatively coupledto the image sensor. The image sensor is positioned on the boat to havea field of view of an environment aft of the stern of a boat. The imagesensor is configured to capture at least one image of the environmentaft of the stern of a boat. The environment captured in the at least oneimage including a water surface aft of the boat. The image processor isconfigured to receive the at least one image from the image sensor;define an analysis region in an image to be analyzed; identify, using anobject recognition process executed by the image processor, whether ornot an object indicative of a water-sports participant is present in theanalysis region; and determine that the water-sports participant hasfallen when the object indicative of the water-sports participant is notpresent in the analysis region. The image to be analyzed includes the atleast one image captured by the image sensor. The analysis regionincludes a portion of the water surface corresponding to a set distancerange behind the boat.

In a still further aspect, the invention relates to a boat including apropulsion system, an audio system, and a controller operatively coupledto the audio system. The propulsion system includes a propulsion motorand a propulsor. The audio system includes at least one speaker and anaudio source. The controller is configured to monitor the propulsionsystem to detect a rapid deacceleration and to pause playing the audiofrom the audio source when the controller detects the rapiddeacceleration.

These and other aspects of the invention will become apparent from thefollowing disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a boat according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the boat shown in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view, taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2 , of astern of the boat shown in FIG. 1 , showing the propulsion system.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a control console of the boat shown inFIG. 1 .

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a control system for the boat shown inFIG. 1 , including a rider analysis system.

FIG. 6 is a transom view of the boat shown in FIG. 1 , showing othersuitable positions of the rider analysis system.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a process used by the rider analysis system toassist in identifying when the rider is down.

FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C are images captured by an image sensor of the rideranalysis system as analyzed using a rider-down analysis. FIG. 8A showsan image with a wakeboarder engaged in wakeboarding (rider up). FIG. 8Bshows an image in which the wakeboarder has fallen. FIG. 8C showsanother image with a water-sports participant having fallen.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of another rider-down analysis.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are images captured by the image sensor, as analyzedusing a rider-down analysis shown in FIG. 9 . FIG. 10A shows an imagewith a wake surfer surfing (rider up). FIG. 10B shows an image in whichthe surfer has fallen.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of another rider-down analysis.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are images captured by the image sensor, as analyzedusing a rider-down analysis shown in FIG. 11 . FIG. 12A shows an imagewith water-sports participants on a tube (rider up). FIG. 12B shows animage where at least one water-sports participants has fallen of thetube.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of another rider-down analysis.

FIGS. 14A, 14B, and 14C are images captured by the image sensor, asanalyzed using a rider-down analysis shown in FIG. 13 . FIG. 14A is afirst image captured by the image sensor, and shows an image with a wakesurfer surfing (rider up). FIG. 14B shows a second image subsequent tothe first image, and FIG. 14C shows a third image that is alsosubsequent to the first image.

FIG. 15 is a schematic of the boat shown in FIG. 1 equipped withmultiple image sensors.

FIG. 16 is an image captured by an image sensor located on the port sideof the boat with multiple water-sports participants identified in thecaptured image using one of the analysis methods discussed herein.

FIG. 17 is an automatic skier-down flag assembly with a skier-down flagin a non-deployed position.

FIG. 18 is the automatic skier-down flag assembly shown in FIG. 17 withthe skier-down flag in a deployed position.

FIG. 19 shows a boat with possible mounting positions for the automaticskier-down flag assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As used herein, directional terms forward (fore), aft, inboard, andoutboard have their commonly understood meaning in the art. Relative tothe boat, forward is a direction toward the bow, and aft is a directiontoward the stern. Likewise, inboard is a direction toward the center ofthe boat, and outboard is a direction away from it.

The boat is operated by a driver (or operator) at a control console tomove the boat through the water for water sports, such as thosediscussed above. When the boat is underway (or driven), the driver needsto look forward to operate the boat, keeping it on course and avoidingnavigational hazards, such as other vessels or submerged orpartially-submerged objects. But maintaining awareness of the boatoperator's surroundings requires being aware of what is going on behindthe boat as well, particularly when a water-sports participant is behindthe boat. When a water-sports participant falls, the driver should stopor slow the boat and then maneuver the boat to pick up the water-sportsparticipant, or otherwise help the water-sports participant restart thewater sport. It is desirable to identify when a water-sports participantfalls as soon as possible, but with the driver looking forward, theremay be a delay before the driver realizes that the water-sportsparticipant has fallen. The embodiments described herein relate tosystems and methods that can be used to identify when the water-sportsparticipant has fallen and provide a notification (or other action) toalert the driver so that he or she can take action as quickly aspossible.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a boat 100 in accordance with an exemplary preferredembodiment of the invention. The boat 100 includes a hull 110 with a bow112, a transom 114, a port side 116, and a starboard side 118. The portside 116 and starboard sides 116, 118 have port and starboard gunwales122, 124, respectively. The boat 100 has a centerline 102 running downthe middle of the boat 100, halfway between the port and starboard sides116, 118. Collectively, the bow 112, the transom 114, and the port andstarboard sides 116, 118 define an interior 130 of the boat 100.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the boat 100 is a bowriderhaving both a bow seating area 132 positioned in the bow 112 of the boat100 and a primary seating area 134 (sometimes also referred to as thecockpit) positioned aft of a windshield 104. The boat 100 shown in FIGS.1 and 2 also has a pair of aft-facing seats 136, such as those describedin U.S. Pat. No. 9,650,117, which is incorporated by reference herein inits entirety. Although described in reference to a bowrider, thisinvention may be used with any suitable deck arrangement (boats),including cuddies, center consoles, or cruisers, for example. Theinvention is also not limited to boats with single decks but may also beused with other boats that have multiple decks, such as a flybridge. Theinvention discussed herein may also be used with pontoon boats andmulti-hull boats.

The boat 100 includes a horizontal swim platform 106 attached to thetransom 114 to make it easier for people to get into the water from theboat 100 or into the boat 100 from the water. A top view of the swimplatform 106 is shown in FIG. 2 , but the swim platform is omitted fromFIG. 1 for clarity. The swim platform 106 should be capable ofsupporting a human, and the swim platform 106 is preferably capable ofsupporting at least 500 lbs. and, even more preferably, 1250 lbs. Theswim platform 106 may be constructed from any suitable material that maybe used in a marine environment, including for example, fiberglass orteak. In this embodiment, the swim platform 106 is attached to thetransom 114 of the boat 100 using two brackets screwed to the transom114; however, the swim platform 106 may be attached to the transom 114by any suitable means. While the swim platform 106 is described as anattachable/detachable platform, it is not so limited. For example, theswim platform 106 may be integrally formed with the stern 108 of theboat 100.

The boat 100 shown in FIG. 1 is a recreational boat and, morespecifically, a recreational sport boat that may be used for watersports, such as water skiing, wakeboarding, wake surfing, wake foiling,and tubing. The boat 100 thus may be equipped with water sportaccessories or systems to facilitate the use of the boat 100 with suchactivities. These water-sport accessories and systems include, forexample, devices that interact with the water and are capable ofenhancing or otherwise adjusting the wake produced by the boat 100 andtow points for towing water-sports participants.

The boat 100 may include the capability to add ballast. Ballast may beused to increase the weight and displacement of the boat 100 andincrease the size of the wake for water sports, such as wakeboarding orwake surfing. Any suitable means to add ballast may be used, includingballast bags (sacks) or ballast tanks. The boat 100 shown in FIG. 1includes three ballast tanks. The boat 100 includes a stern 108, andpreferably, two ballast tanks are positioned in the stern 108 of theboat near the bottom of the hull, one on each side of the boat (a portballast tank 142 and a starboard ballast tank 144), and a third ballasttank (not shown) is positioned along the boat's centerline near thebottom of the hull, forward of the two stern ballast tanks 142, 144.Ballast bags may be used in addition to the ballast tanks and may beplumbed into the ballast system of the boat 100. Preferably, the ballastbags are positioned above the stern ballast tanks 142, 144 in acompartment underneath the aft-facing seats 136. Both the ballast tanksand the ballast bags operate similarly in that water may be pumped intothe tank or bag by ballast pumps to add weight. Any suitable ballastsystem and arrangements tanks, bags, and the like may be used,including, for example, the ballast systems disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.11,254,391, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

The boat 100 may be equipped with surf devices 152, 154, which may beused to shape the wake of the boat for wake surfing. Any suitable surfdevices may be used, including, for example, the port and starboardwake-modifying devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,833,286, which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Each of the port andstarboard surf devices 152, 154 includes a plate-like member that ispivotably attached to the transom 114 of the boat 100. The plate-likemembers pivot about pivot axes to move between a non-deployed positionand a deployed position. In this embodiment, the pivot axes are hinges.Here, the hinges are piano hinges that are welded to a leading portionof each plate-like member and attached to the transom 114 of the boat100 using screws. However, any suitable pivotable connection may be usedand may be affixed to the transom 114 of the boat 100 and the port andstarboard surf devices 152, 154 using any suitable means, including butnot limited to bolts, screws, rivets, welding, and epoxy. Each of theport and starboard surf devices 152, 154 also may include one or moredownturned and/or upturned surfaces, such as downturned surfaces at thetrailing edge of the plate-like members that are angled at a downwardangle relative to the plate-like member. However, as noted above, anysuitable surf device may be used, and other suitable surf devices mayinclude, for example, the port and starboard wake-modifying devicesdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,802,684, which is incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the boat 100 is also equipped with a central trimdevice (center tab 156) positioned to span the centerline 102 of theboat. Any suitable trim device may be used, but in this embodiment, thecenter tab 156 is a generally rectangular trim tab that is pivotablyattached to the transom 114 of the boat 100. The center tab 156 includesa plate-like member and pivots about a pivot axis to move between anon-deployed position and a deployed position. Like the pivot axes ofthe surf devices 152, 154, the pivot axis of the center tab 156 may beany suitable pivotable connection affixed to the transom 114 of the boat100.

Each of the surf devices 152, 154 and the center tab 156 is movablebetween the deployed position and the non-deployed position by a drivemechanism 158. In the embodiment shown, one drive mechanism 158 is usedfor each surf device 152, 154 and the center tab 156, allowing them tobe independently operated. Each of the drive mechanisms 158 shown inthis embodiment is a linear actuator. The linear actuator may be anelectric linear actuator or an electro-hydraulic actuator (EHA). Asuitable electric linear actuator may be one from Lenco Marine ofStuart, Fla., and a suitable electro-hydraulic actuator (EHA) may be oneavailable from Parker Hannifin of Marysville, Ohio. One end of thelinear actuator is connected to the transom 114 of the boat 100, and theother end is connected to the surf device 152, 154 or center tab 156.Any suitable means may be used to move the surf devices 152, 154 and thecenter tab 156 between the deployed and non-deployed positions,including but not limited to hydraulic linear actuators, gas assistpneumatic actuators, and electrical motors.

The boat 100 is also equipped with an apparatus for towing awater-sports participant. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the towingapparatus is a tower 160 that is particularly used for towing awakeboarder. Any suitable tower 160 may be used, including, for example,those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,580,155 and 10,150,540, which areincorporated by reference herein in their entireties. The tower 160includes two legs: a port leg 162 and a starboard leg 164. The port leg162 is attached on the port side of the centerline 102 of the boat 100,and the starboard leg 164 is attached on the starboard side of thecenterline 102 of the boat 100. Preferably, the port and starboard legs162, 164 are attached to the port gunwale 122 and to the starboardgunwale 124, respectively. The tower 160 also includes a header 166. Theheader 166 is connected to an upper portion of each of the two legs 162,164 and spans the interior 130 of the boat 100 at a height suitable forpassengers to pass underneath while standing. In addition, the tower 160has a towline-attachment structure 168 at an upper portion of the tower160 (the header 166 in this embodiment). This towline-attachmentstructure 168 may be used to connect a towline suitable for towing awater-sports participant, such as a wakeboarder. Any suitabletowline-attachment structure may be used, including but not limited tothe integrated light and towline-attachment assembly disclosed in U.S.Pat. No. 6,539,886, which is incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety. Additionally or alternatively, towline-attachment structures168 may be located elsewhere on the boat, such as on the transom 114 ora portion deck in the stern 108. Such lower towline-attachmentstructures 168 are preferably used for water sports like tubing.

The boat 100 also includes an audio system 330 (see FIG. 5 ). Sound isoutput from the audio system 330 by speakers 170 (see FIG. 5 )positioned throughout the boat 100. The speakers 170 may be located inany suitable location in or on the boat 100. In this embodiment, atleast two speakers are attached to the tower 160 and are positioned todirect sound in an aft direction. These are referred to herein as towerspeakers 172 and may be used, for example, to project sound outside ofthe boat and when applicable, to a water-sports participant, such as awakeboarder, surfer, skier, foiler, tuber, and the like. Preferably, thetower speakers 172 are attached to the underside of the header 166.

Speakers may also be positioned within the interior 130 of the boat 100to provide sound to the occupants of the boat. For example, two speakersmay be located in the bow 112 of the boat (bow speakers 174) to projectsound in the bow seating area 132, and at least two speakers (cockpitspeakers 176) may be located in the primary seating area 134 to projectsound into the primary seating area 134. The interior 130 of the boat100 includes port and starboard sidewalls 126, 128. The bow speakers 174and cockpit speakers 176 may be located on port and starboard sidewalls126, 128 and below the gunwales 122, 124. The boat 100 may also includedash speakers 178 located in each of a control console 180 and apassenger-side console 181.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view, taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2 , of astern 108 of the boat 100 shown in FIG. 1 , showing a propulsion system200 of the boat 100. The boat 100 of this embodiment is an inboard boat.However, this invention can be utilized with other types of boats andpropulsion systems, including but not limited to outboard motors,sterndrives, jet drives, and the like. The propulsion system 200includes a motor operatively coupled to a propulsor to drive thepropulsor. In this embodiment, the motor is a combustion engine 210, butother suitable motors may be used, including electrical motors. Thepropulsor of this embodiment is a propeller 220, but other suitablepropulsors may be used, such as, for example, impellers in jet drives.The engine 210 is configured to drive (rotate) the propeller 220, and inthis embodiment, the engine 210 is connected to the propeller 220 by adrive shaft 222. The engine 210 is located within the interior 130 ofthe boat 100, and the drive shaft 222 extends through the hull bottom119. The engine 210 is coupled to the drive shaft to rotate the driveshaft 222, and thus the propeller 220. The drive shaft 222 rotates abouta rotation axis 221 of the drive shaft 222. A strut 224 extends from thehull bottom 119 to support the drive shaft 222 and the propeller 220.The drive shaft 222 extends through a bushing in the strut 224. Thepropeller 220 is positioned beneath the hull bottom 119 and forward ofthe transom 114. The propulsion system 200 of this embodiment,specifically, the engine 210 and the drive shaft 222, is arranged in aV-drive arrangement, allowing the engine 210 to be located aft in thestern 108 of the boat 100 and further increasing the displacement of thestern 108 of the boat 100 for water sports, such as wake surfing or wakeboarding. The propulsion system 200 may be arranged in other inboardarrangements, such as a direct drive arrangement, which may be preferredfor water ski boats where increased displacement is not desired.

A rudder 230 for turning the boat 100 is positioned behind (aft of) thepropeller 220. A user may turn the boat 100 by rotating a steering wheel232 (see FIG. 4 ) located at the control console 180. The steering wheel232 is coupled to the rudder 230 such that turning the steering wheel232 rotates the rudder 230. Any suitable steering system may be used,including mechanical rack-and-pinion systems connected to the rudder bymechanical linkages, hydraulic steering systems, electronic steeringsystems, or the rudder system shown and described in U.S. Pat. No.9,611,009, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Inother embodiments, for example, the steering wheel 232 may rotate themarine drive for outboard or sterndrives, or the nozzle for jet drives.

In this embodiment, the engine 210 and the propeller 220 may be operatedby a user at the control console 180 (discuss further below withreference to FIG. 4 ). The control console 180 may include a controllever 212 that operates a throttle 214 of the engine 210 and engages theengine 210 with the drive shaft 222. The control lever 212 has a neutralposition, and the user may move the control lever 212 forward from theneutral position to engage a running gear 216 with the drive shaft 222,accelerate the engine 210 using the throttle 214, and rotate thepropeller 220 in a first direction, such as counterclockwise, to drivethe boat 100 forward. To move the boat 100 in reverse, the user may movethe control lever 212 back from the neutral position to engage a reversegear 218 with the drive shaft 222, accelerate the engine 210 using thethrottle 214, and rotate the propeller 220 in a second directionopposite the first direction, such as clockwise. Any suitable means maybe used to operate the engine 210 and engage it with the drive shaft222.

FIG. 4 shows the control console 180 for operating the boat 100. Here,the control console 180 is positioned on the starboard side of the boat100 proximate to and aft of the windshield 104. The control console 180is used to support and enclose various controls for operating the boat100. As noted above, the steering wheel 232 and the control lever 212are located at the control console 180. The control console 180 may alsoinclude at least one display screen. In this embodiment, the controlconsole 180 includes two display screens, a center display 182 and aside display 184.

The center display 182 may be positioned and oriented so that theoperator can be aware of the information displayed on the center display182 without substantially deviating his or her attention from the boat'sheading. In this embodiment, for example, the center display 182 islocated at the top of the dash above and forward of the steering wheel232 so that the operator is able to view the information displayed onthe center display 182 without turning his or her head. Although thecenter display 182 may be a touchscreen, the center display 182 in thisparticular embodiment is not because of the positioning of the centerdisplay 182 and the type of information displayed on it. The positioningof the center display 182 makes it difficult or awkward for a user toreach with his or her hand, so to the extent that user-selectableoptions are displayed on the center display 182, they may be selected byusing a switch pad or another suitable input device (user interface).

The control console 180 includes input devices 186 that are used toselect various functions or options and operate various features andsystems of the boat. Such input devices 186 may be operator controls.Many of the input devices 186 on the boat 100 may be convenientlylocated on the control console 180 to the side of the steering wheel232. In this embodiment, the input devices 186 are located on theoutboard side of the steering wheel 232 and can be conveniently operatedby the operator's right hand. One of the main input devices 186 in thisembodiment is the side display 184. In this embodiment, the side display184 is a 10 inch, rectangular, touchscreen display that has a portraitorientation, and a plurality of user-selectable elements (controls) aredisplayed on the side display 184. Other input devices 186 (controls)may include other static buttons and switches that are part of, forexample, a switch pack 188. These static buttons and switches areanother example of user-selectable elements (controls).

As noted above, the boat 100 discussed herein may be used for watersports. When the boat 100 is being used for such activities, the driver(or operator) is located at the control console 180 as the boat 100moves through the water with a water-sports participant behind the boat100. When the boat 100 is underway (or driven), the driver looks forwardto operate the boat, keeping it on course and avoiding navigationalhazards, such as other vessels or submerged or partially-submergedobjects, but when a water-sports participant falls, the driver shouldstop or slow the boat and then maneuver the boat to pick up thewater-sports participant. The water-sports participant may also bereferred to herein as a rider. The rider is up when the rider is engagedin the water sport while being pulled by the boat 100 or propelled bythe wake of the boat 100, and the rider is down when the rider falls oris otherwise not being pulled by the boat 100 or propelled by the wakeof the boat 100. Embodiments discussed herein use a rider analysissystem 300 to assist in identifying when the rider is down.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a control system 302 for the boat 100shown in FIG. 1 , including the rider analysis system 300. The rideranalysis system 300 may be used to provide alerts and or othernotifications to the operator or others in or within the vicinity of theboat 100. In other embodiments, the rider analysis system 300 may beused to implement or trigger other actions on the boat 100. The rideranalysis system 300 is communicatively coupled to the control system 302for the boat 100, and in this embodiment, the rider analysis system 300is implemented within the control system 302 of the boat 100.

The rider analysis system 300 of the embodiments discussed hereinutilizes an image sensor 310. As discussed further below, the imagesensor 310 is positioned on the boat 100 to have a field of view of anenvironment aft of the stern 108 of a boat 100. The image sensor 310 maybe equipped to sense and image the environment behind the boat 100 byany suitable means. Suitable image sensors 310 may include visual imagesensors (e.g., cameras that sense visual light to create still images orvideo images), infrared image sensors, radar image sensors, LiDAR imagesensors, and the like. The image sensor 310 has a field of view, whichis the area captured, or imaged, by the image sensor. In someembodiments, multiple image sensors may be used, such as, for example,multiple image sensors of the same type (e.g., multiple video cameras)and/or image sensors of a different type (e.g., both a video camera anda LiDAR image sensor). The image sensors 310 shown schematically in FIG.5 include a camera 312, a radar sensor 314, and a LiDAR sensor 316.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the image sensor 310 of this embodiment is locatedon the tower 160 of the boat 100 and, more specifically, on the header166 near the towline attachment structure 168 on the tower 160.Positioning the image sensor 310 on the tower 160 and, morespecifically, on the header 166, provides the image sensor 310 with awide and deep field of view behind the boat 100. The image sensor 310 ispreferably located within a center region of the header 166, such aswithin one eighth of the beam width on either side of the centerline 102of the boat 100. In this embodiment, the image sensor 310 is alignedwith the centerline 102 of the boat 100.

FIG. 6 shows other suitable positions for one or more image sensors onthe boat 100. FIG. 6 is a view of the transom 114 of the boat.Preferably, the image sensor(s) will be positioned above the waterline10 of the boat 100 so that it captures the surface of the water and anywater-sports participant behind the boat 100. The image sensor(s) may beattached to a portion of the deck. In FIG. 6 , for example, image sensor310 a is attached to the motor box. The image sensor(s) may also beattached to the hull 110, such as attached to (or otherwise positionedin) the transom 114 of the hull. Image sensors 310 b, 310 c, 310 d areall attached to the transom 114 at a position above the swim platform106. The image sensor(s) may be attached to other portions of the hull110. For example, image sensor 310 e is attached to the port side 116 ofthe hull 110, and image sensor 310 f is attached to the starboard side118 of the hull 110. Other suitable locations include, for example, theport gunwale 122 and the starboard gunwale 124. For example, imagesensor 310 g is attached to the port gunwale 122, and image sensor 310 his attached to the starboard gunwale 124.

Image sensor 310 a and image sensor 310 b are shown in a center regionof the boat 100, such as within one eighth of the beam width on eitherside of the centerline 102, and, more specifically in this embodiment,image sensor 310 a and image sensor 310 b are aligned with thecenterline 102 of the boat 100. Image sensor 310 c and image sensor 310d are each positioned on an outer third of the boat 100, with imagesensor 310 c being on a port side of the centerline 102 of the boat 100,and image sensor 310 d being positioned on a starboard side of thecenterline 102 of the boat 100. The image sensors discussed above arefixed or otherwise attached to the boat. Image sensors that are notfixed to the boat 100 may also be used. Such image sensors may include,for example, a camera on a drone or a camera on a mobile phone.

As shown in FIG. 5 , the control system 302 includes a controller 320.In this embodiment, the controller 320 is a microprocessor-basedcontroller that includes a processor 322 for performing variousfunctions discussed further below, and a memory 324 for storing variousdata. The controller 320 may also be referred to as a CPU. In oneembodiment, the various methods discussed below may be implemented byway of a series of instructions stored in the memory 324 and executed bythe processor 322. The rider analysis system 300 includes an imageprocessor 326. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 , the image processor326 is incorporated into the controller 320 either as a separateprocessor or as the processor 322, and in this way the image processor326 is communicatively coupled to the controller 320 as part of thecontrollers 320 internal connections. In other embodiments, the imageprocessor 326 may be a processor that is part of a computing device(with its own memory) separate from the controller 320. When the imageprocessor 326 is separate from the controller 320, the image processor326 is communicatively coupled to the controller 320 to carry out theactions discussed below.

The image sensor 310 is communicatively coupled to the image processor326 and, in this embodiment, is communicatively coupled to thecontroller 320. The image sensor 310 may be communicatively coupled tothe controller 320 using any suitable means. In this embodiment, theimage sensor 310 is coupled to the controller 320 with a wiredconnection, but other suitable connections may be used, such as wirelessconnections. Suitable connections include, for example, an electricalconductor, a low-level serial data connection, such as RecommendedStandard (RS) 232 or RS-485, a high-level serial data connection, suchas Universal Serial Bus (USB) or the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394, a parallel data connection, such asIEEE 1284 or IEEE 488, and/or a short-range wireless communicationchannel, such as BLUETOOTH, and/or wireless communication networks usingradiofrequency signals, such as WiFi. When a wired connection andprotocol is used, each of the image sensor 310 and the controller 320may include a suitable port to support the wired connection. When awireless protocol is used, each of the image sensor 310 and thecontroller 320 may include a transmitter and/or a receiver. The examplesof image sensors 310 discussed above that are not fixed to the boat 100may be wirelessly coupled to the image processor 326.

The controller 320 is also communicatively coupled to at least onedisplay, and in this embodiment, is communicatively coupled to both thecenter display 182 and the side display 184. The controller 320 isconfigured to display on the center display 182 and the side display 184various information that is pertinent to the operator, including theinformation and alerts discussed further below. Where the display, suchas the side display 184, is a touch screen and thus functioning as aninput device 186, the controller 320 is also configured to receive inputfrom the side display 184. The side display 184 may display a pluralityof user-selectable options or icons that may be selected by a userpressing the icon. The terms icon, virtual button, user-selectableelement, and button will be used interchangeably herein to describethese and other user-selectable options displayed by the controller 320on the side display 184. The controller 320 is operatively coupled tovarious systems on the boat 100. When the user selects a user-selectableelement displayed on the side display 184, the controller 320 receivesan input from the side display 184 and then executes a process based onthe input from the side display 184. In a similar manner, the controller320 is also configured to receive input from other input devices 186,such as the switch pack 188.

In some embodiments, the side display 184 (and center display 182) mayimplement dynamic controls, such as the dynamic controls discussed inU.S. Pat. No. 11,048,469, which is incorporated by reference herein inits entirety. Such dynamic controls may be implemented using modes. Eachdifferent mode corresponds to a different activity, and each modeincludes a plurality of controls corresponding to the activity of themode. The plurality of controls of each mode is a subset of the majorcontrols of the boat 100. In some embodiments, there may be threedifferent modes (a drive mode, a tow mode, and a chill mode), and when amode is activated, the controller 320 displays on the side display 184the plurality of controls in that mode. Similarly, each mode alsoincludes a plurality of parameters of the boat 100 (also referred toherein as operational parameters) corresponding to the activity of themode. These operational parameters are also a subset of the majoroperational parameters of the boat 100. The information displayed on thecenter display 182 changes based on the active mode, and the controller320 displays on the center display 182 the plurality of parameters ofthe boat 100 corresponding to the activity of the mode. An example ofthe plurality of controls and plurality of operational parameters foreach of the three modes is described in further detail in U.S. Pat. No.11,048,469.

As noted above, the control system 302 may include a plurality of modes,with at least one mode corresponding to a water sport and at least onemode corresponding to an activity other than the water sport (anon-water-sport mode). The control system 302 may also include aplurality of modes with each mode corresponding to a different watersport. In this embodiment, the controller 320 displays at the top of theside display 184 a plurality of user-selectable options to changebetween modes. Two non-water-sport modes, drive and chill, are shown inFIG. 5 . The drive button 191 activates the drive mode, and the chillbutton 193 activates the chill mode. There are also a plurality ofuser-selectable options, each corresponding to a different water sport.In this embodiment, the plurality of user-selectable options includesbuttons for wake surfing (surf button 195), another one of the watersports is wakeboarding (wake button 197), and the third water sport iswater skiing (ski button 199), but the water sports and correspondinguser-selectable options may be for any water sport including, forexample, tubing.

The controller 320 is also communicatively and operatively coupled tothe propulsion system 200, including, for example, in this embodiment,to the throttle 214 and the engine 210. In addition, the controller 320is communicatively and operatively coupled to the audio system 330. Theaudio system 330 of this embodiment includes an audio controller 332.The audio controller 332 may be, for example, a head unit. The audiocontroller 332 may be a separate controller, as shown in FIG. 5 , but inother embodiments, the audio controller 332 may be integrated in thecontroller 320 of the boat 100.

The audio system 330 receives audio signals from an audio source 334.The audio source may be any suitable audio source, including, forexample, audio received by an AM/FM radio receiver; audio received by asatellite radio receiver; digital media stored on a digital mediaplayer, such as a mobile phone or iPod®; a digital streaming serviceusing a device, such as a mobile phone that is communicatively coupledto a wireless network; and audio stored on a compact disc (CD) andplayed using a CD player. The audio source 334 may be integrated intothe boat 100. For example, an AM/FM radio receiver may be built into theboat 100 and operated through the side display 184. The audio system 330may also be configured to allow an external audio source 334 to becoupled to the audio system 330 using an audio input interface 336. Theaudio input interface 336 may include a 3.5 mm audio port, a universalserial bus (USB) port, a high-definition multimedia interface port, anoptical interface port, or a short distance wirelessreceiver/transmitter. The short distance wireless receiver/transmittermay use the Bluetooth® protocol, for example. The audio signal from theaudio input interface 336 is sent to an amplifier 338. The amplifier 338is communicatively coupled to each of the speakers 170, and amplifiesthe audio signal for each speaker 170. The amplifier 338 transmits theamplified audio signal to each speaker 170, which in turn produces theaudio sound.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the general process used by the rider analysissystem 300 to assist in identifying when the rider is down. Thecontroller 320 activates the process in step S705. The image sensor 310then captures, in step S710, at least one image of the environment aftof the stern 108 of the boat 100. As noted above, the image sensor 310is located above the waterline 10, and the environment captured in theat least one image includes a water surface aft of the boat 100. FIGS.8A and 8B are examples of images captured by the image sensor 310 andshow the environment aft of the stern 108 of the boat 100. In theembodiments discussed herein, the image sensor 310 positioned on thetower 160 is used, and the image sensor 310 is a visual image sensor,such as a video camera 312. The captured images in the embodimentsdiscussed herein are thus visual images. However, the followingdiscussion is also applicable to other captured images using other imagesensors positioned at other portions of the boat. For example, when theimage sensor is an infrared image sensor, the rider 12 may be identifiedby their heat signature as compared to the background.

As noted above, the image sensor 310 has a field of view, which is thearea captured or imaged by the image sensor. The field of view ispreferably sized to provide sufficient resolution for the imageprocessing discussed below. The field of view is preferably set tocapture the normal range of the water-sports participant behind the boat100 when the water-sports participant is engaged in the water sport. Thecenterline 102 of the boat 100 is shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B extending aftof the boat 100. A wide field of view is preferred to observe awater-sports participant that is a large distance from the centerline102 of the boat 100. Such a field of view is preferred when the watersport is water skiing and wakeboarding, for example. In such watersports, the water-sports participant may be a large distance from thecenterline 102 and moving quickly from one side to the other, such as aslalom skier that moves between buoys that are more than 38 feet fromthe centerline 102 of the boat 100. Accordingly, the field of view, forat least water skiing and wakeboarding, preferably is at least 50 feeton either side of the centerline 102 of the boat 100, but smaller widthsalso may be used. When the water sport is wake surfing, for example, thefield of view preferably is at least 15 feet on either side of thecenterline 102 of the boat 100.

The field of view in terms of the length behind the boat 100 ispreferably set to account for the various water sports being performed.Preferably, the field of view will include the area just aft of the boat100 to account for water sports, such as wake surfing, that occur closeto the boat. Wake surfing often occurs with the water-sports participantat distances from 3 to 40 feet behind the transom of the boat 100. Insome embodiments, it may be beneficial for the field of view to includethe boat 100, in which case the field of view may include at least aportion of the stern 108 of the boat 100 and/or the swim platform 106.The field of view also preferably accounts for water sports that occurat distances farther from the transom of the boat 100. Such water sportsinclude, for example, foiling, which often occurs with the water-sportsparticipant at distances from 20 to 60 feet behind the transom of theboat 100; wakeboarding, which often occurs with the water-sportsparticipant at distances from 45 to 80 feet behind the transom of theboat 100; water skiing, which often occurs with the water-sportsparticipant at distances from 40 to 75 feet behind the transom of theboat 100; and tubing, which often occurs with the water-sportsparticipant(s) at distances from 40 to 80 feet behind the transom of theboat 100.

As noted above, the field of view preferably includes the area where theperson engaged in the water sport (referred to herein as thewater-sports participant or rider) is expected to be located for theparticular water sport. In some embodiments, the field of view may bedynamic and change based on the water sport being performed. The fieldof view may be changed based on receiving an input from a user selectinga particular field of view using controls on an input device 186, suchas user-selectable options displayed on the side display 184, forexample. The user may select the field of view by providing a specificinput to set the field of view, and then the controller 320 controls theimage sensor 310 to change the field of view. Such user inputs mayinclude, for example, zoom and pan features. In response to such inputs,the controller 320 controls the zoom function of the image sensor orphysically moves the image sensor using an electrical motor, forexample. In other embodiments, the field of view may be predeterminedbased on the water sport. The controller 320 may have stored in thememory a set location (position and zoom) for the image sensor, and thecontroller 320 operates or otherwise moves the image sensor 310 to setthe field of view when a user selects a user input corresponding to thewater sport, such as when a particular mode is selected (e.g., selectingone of the surf button 195, the wake button 197, or the ski button 199),for example. Where the boat 100 is equipped with multiple image sensors310, changing the file of view may include selecting a different imagesensor 310. For example, when a surf left option is selected, thecontroller 320 may select an image sensor on the port side of the boat100, such as one of image sensor 310 c, image sensor 310 e, or imagesensor 310 g (see FIG. 6 ). Likewise, when a surf right option isselected, the controller 320 may select an image sensor on the starboardside of the boat 100, such as one of image sensor 310 d, image sensor310 f, or image sensor 310 h (see FIG. 6 ).

Returning to the flow chart of FIG. 7 , the image sensor 310 isconfigured to send the images captured by the image sensor 310 to theimage processor 326, and the image processor 326 is configured toreceive the images from the image sensor. The captured images are sentand received in step S715. Then, in step S720, the image processor 326is used to analyze the images captured by the image sensor 310 todetermine whether the water-sports participant has fallen. Such ananalysis may be referred to herein as a rider-down analysis. To makesuch a determination, the image processor 326 may analyze an image to beanalyzed to determine if the water-sports participant has fallen. Theimage to be analyzed includes the image captured by the image sensor310. In some embodiments, a plurality of image sensors 310, for example,image sensor 310 c and image sensor 310 d, is used to create the imageto be analyzed. The captured image from image sensor 310 c and the imagesensor 310 d may be stitched together by the image processor 326 using asuitable image stitching process to combine each captured image into oneimage to be analyzed.

In analyzing the image in step S720, the image processor 326 executes anobject recognition process to determine if the water-sports participanthas fallen (in other words, is down) or if the water-sports participanthas not fallen (in other words, is up). Any suitable object recognitionprocess may be used. For example, an artificial neural network trainedto identify the objects discussed herein may be used as the objectrecognition process. In another example, a facial recognition imageanalysis may be performed to identify and distinguish the face of aperson from other objects in the image. Herein, this facial recognitionis used not to specifically identify a person by individualcharacteristics of a specific person's face, but to distinguish a humanface from other objects. Similar analyses can be conducted to identifyother parts of a person's body, such as head, hands, arms, torso, legs,and the like. Such facial or body recognition techniques and algorithmsinclude, for instance, intrinsic face movement, depth mappingalgorithms, neural networks, 3D sensing techniques, texture detection,gesture detection, edge detection, and feature detection.

The captured images discussed in the following embodiments are visualimages, which, as discussed above, are analyzed using suitable objectrecognition processes for visual images. Other image sensors 210 may beused, and suitable object recognition processes for such image sensors210 may be used as part of step S720 to identify the objects discussedherein. For example, an infrared image sensor may be used, and the rider12 may be identified by their heat signature as compared to thebackground. In some cases, the background will show as a coldenvironment, and the rider 12 will show as a hot object. Thistemperature difference can then be used to identify the location of therider 12.

Various suitable methods and approaches may be used to determine if thewater-sports participant has fallen based on the object recognitionprocess. Examples of this determination will be described further below.Step S725 illustrates a decision point in the process. If the rider isstill up (not fallen), the process returns to step S710 and the rideranalysis system 300 continues to monitor the water-sports participant.But, if the rider is down (fallen), the process moves to step S730, andthe controller 320 executes a rider-down action. In some embodiments,the image processor 326 outputs a rider-down output, which is receivedby the controller 320. The controller 320 thus is configured to executethe rider-down action based upon the rider-down analysis.

One rider-down analysis (step S720 in FIG. 7 ) is illustrated usingFIGS. 8A and 8B. The image processor 326, utilizing the objectrecognition process, analyzes the image to be analyzed for the presenceof an object in the image to be analyzed indicative of the water-sportsparticipant. If such an object is present in the image, the imageprocessor determines that the water-sports participant has not fallen,or, in other words, is up. If such an object is not present in theimage, the image processor determines that the water-sports participanthas fallen, or, in other words, is down.

In some embodiments, the object indicative of the water-sportsparticipant is the water-sports participant himself or herself. Theimage processor 326 may be configured to identify a person's body and/orportions thereof, and the object indicative of the water-sportsparticipant is at least a portion of a person's body. In the capturedimage shown in FIG. 8A, the rider is identified by the image processoras indicated by reference numeral 12, and the image processor 326determines that the water-sports participant is up. But, in the capturedimage shown in FIG. 8B, the rider 12 is not identified, and the imageprocessor 326 determines that the water-sports participant is down.

A facial recognition image analysis may be performed to identify anddistinguish the face of a person from other objects in the image. Insome embodiments, however, identifying the face (or head) of thewater-sports participant may lead to errant determinations. FIG. 8C isanother example of an image captured by the image sensor 310 andsubjected to the rider-down analysis discussed above. If only the facewere identified, the image processor 326 may identify the rider 12 inthe image shown in FIG. 8C and thus determine that the water-sportsparticipant is up. In this image, however, the rider has fallen and isfloating with his head above the water. Accordingly, in otherembodiments, an approach where a substantial portion of a person's body,such as, for example, at least the person's torso, if not also the legs,is used to identify the rider. In such an analysis, the objectindicative of the water-sports participant is at least a portion of aperson's body, and the portion of the person's body includes a portionof the person's body other than the head (e.g., the person's torso orlegs). Using such a process on the image shown in FIG. 8C would resultin the image processor 326 determining that the water-sports participanthas fallen.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of another rider-down analysis (step S720). Thisapproach can be used to determine that the water-sports participant isdown without the need to identify a substantial portion of the person'sbody. This approach is similar to the approach discussed above bututilizes an analysis region. In this rider-down analysis, the imageprocessor 326 limits the portion of the captured image in which theobject identification is performed. As noted above, the rider isexpected to be located a certain distance behind the boat when the rideris up. The image analysis may be performed over a range of distancesbehind the boat that corresponds to the water sport, and not in otherportions of the image. In step S905, the image processor 326 defines ananalysis region in the image to be analyzed. The analysis regionincludes a portion of the water surface corresponding to a set distancerange behind the boat. Ranges corresponding to the water sport, asdiscussed above, may be used to define the set distance range of theanalysis region.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are examples of images captured by the image sensor310 and show the environment aft of the stern 108 of the boat 100. Theanalysis regions are indicated by reference numeral 22, and, as can beseen in these figures, the analysis region is only a portion of theimage to be analyzed.

In step S910 shown in FIG. 9 , the image processor 326, utilizing theobject recognition process, analyzes the analysis region 22 for thepresence of an object indicative of the water-sports participant. StepS915 illustrates a decision point in the process. If an objectindicative of the water-sports participant is present in the analysisregion 22, the image processor 326 determines that the water-sportsparticipant has not fallen, or, in other words, is up (step S920). If anobject indicative of the water-sports participant is not present in theanalysis region 22, the image processor 326 determines that thewater-sports participant has fallen, or, in other words, is down (stepS925). As discussed above, the object indicative of the water-sportsparticipant may be the rider 12. In the image shown in FIG. 10A, theimage processor 326 identifies that the rider 12 is in the analysisregion 22 and thus determines that the water-sports participant has notfallen (step S920), but in the image shown in FIG. 10B, the imageprocessor 326 identifies that the rider 12 is not in the analysis region22 (in this case, identifies the rider 12 as being outside of theanalysis region 22) and thus determines that the water-sportsparticipant has fallen (step S925).

In the examples above, the object indicative of the water-sportsparticipant is the rider 12, but in this analysis and in the otherrider-down analyses discussed herein, the object indicative of thewater-sports participant may be objects other than the rider. The ridertypically is on a piece of water-sports equipment used for the watersport, such as a board, skis, or tube, for example. When water skiing,the rider is on water skis. When wakeboarding or wake surfing, the rideris on a board (e.g., wakeboard or surfboard). When tubing, the rider ison an inflatable tube. In some embodiments, the object indicative of thewater-sports participant is a piece of water-sports equipment, and morespecifically, a board (e.g., wakeboard or surfboard), ski, or tube. InFIG. 10A, for example, the surfboard is identified in the analysisregion 22 by the image processor, as indicated by reference numeral 14,and the image processor 326 determines that the water-sports participantis up. But, in the captured image shown in FIG. 10B, the board 14 is notidentified in the analysis region 22, and the image processor 326determines that the water-sports participant is down.

The analysis region 22 may be set based on the water sport. As discussedabove, the side display 184 includes a plurality of user-selectableelements, each corresponding to a different water sport (e.g., the surfbutton 195, the wake button 197, and the ski button 199). When one ofthese user-selectable elements is selected, the controller 320 sets theset distance range of the analysis region based on the selected watersport. The analysis region 22 may be defined by a minimum distancebehind the aft most portion of the boat to a maximum distance behind theaft most portion of the boat. The analysis region 22 may also be definedto have a width, such as a distance on either side of the centerline102. As noted above, for a water sport, such as wake surfing (a firstwater sport), that is performed closer to the boat, each of the minimumdistance and the maximum distance may be less than the correspondingminimum distance and maximum distance for a second water sport, such aswakeboarding. Likewise, the width (distance from the centerline) of theanalysis region 22 for wake surfing may be less than the width forwakeboarding.

In this rider-down analysis shown and described with respect to FIGS. 9to 10B, the analysis region 22 is used to limit the area in which theobject region process is used, thereby limiting false positives. Anotherapproach to minimize false positives is to limit the field of view forthe image sensor 310 based on the water sport, as discussed above, andthus the captured image is limited to the area in which the rider isexpected to be located when engaged in the water sport.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of another rider-down analysis (step S720). Inthis embodiment, the image processor 326 analyzes the image to beanalyzed for both the water-sports participant (rider 12) and the pieceof water-sports equipment, the proximity of the piece of water-sportsequipment to a person identified in the image is used to determine ifthe rider is up or if the rider is down (fallen). In step S1105, theimage processor 326 analyzes the image to be analyzed to identify aperson (rider 12 in FIGS. 12A and 12B) in the image to be analyzed. Instep S1110, the image processor 326 analyzes the image to be analyzed toidentify a piece of water-sports equipment, such as a tube 16 in FIGS.12A and 12B, in the image to be analyzed. In step S1115, the imageprocessor 326 then calculates a distance d (see FIG. 12B) between theperson (rider 12) and the piece of water-sports equipment (tube 16).

FIGS. 12A and 12B are examples of images captured by the image sensor310 and show the environment aft of the stern 108 of the boat 100 asanalyzed by the image processor 326. FIG. 12A shows two riders 12located on a tube 16, and FIG. 12B shows a rider 12 off of the tube 16.Step S1120 in FIG. 11 illustrates a decision point in the process, andthe image processor 326 determines if the calculated distance d betweenthe person (rider 12) and the piece of water-sports equipment (tube 16)is greater than a threshold distance. If the calculated distance d iswithin a threshold distance (not greater than the threshold distance),the image processor 326 determines that the water-sports participant hasnot fallen (step S1125), as shown in FIG. 12A. In FIG. 12A the distanced is zero or overlapping in this example and thus less than thethreshold distance. If the calculated distance d is greater than thethreshold distance, the image processor 326 determines that thewater-sports participant has fallen (step S1130), as shown in FIG. 12B.In a case where only the piece of water-sports equipment is identified(tube 16), the image processor 326 may also determine that thewater-sports participant has fallen. For example, the distance d may beinfinite and thus greater than the threshold distance. This analysismethod may be particularly useful where the piece of water-sportsequipment is attached to the boat 100, such as a tube 16.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of another rider-down analysis (step S720), andFIGS. 14A to 14C are examples of images captured by the image sensor 310and show the environment aft of the stern 108 of the boat 100 asanalyzed by the image processor 326 using the process shown in FIG. 13 .The image sensor 310 may be configured to capture a plurality of imagesin a sequence. The image processor 326 may be configured to performobject identification on the sequence of captured images and makecomparisons between images in the sequence. Each of the captured imagesmay be the images to be analyzed to determine if the water-sportsparticipant has fallen. When the rider 12 has fallen, the boat 100 willmove away from the rider 12, and the rider 12 (or other objectindicative of the water-sports participant) will get progressivelysmaller in the series of captured images. The image analysis performedby the image processor 326 may include a determination of the size ofthe identified object, such as the size of the rider 12. In step S1305,the image processor 326 identifies the object indicative of thewater-sports participant, such as the rider 12, in a first (orreference) image, as in FIG. 14A, for example. In step S1310, the imageprocessor 326 calculates the size of the rider 12 in the first image.The image processor 326 then analyzes a second image subsequent to thefirst image. In step S1315, the image processor 326 identifies the rider12 in the second image, as in FIG. 14B or FIG. 14C, for example. Theimage processor 326 calculates the size of the rider 12 in the secondimage in step S1320, and then compares the size of the rider 12 in thesecond image to the size of the rider 12 in the first image in stepS1325. Step S1330 is a decision point in the process. If the size of therider 12 in the second image has not decreased more than a thresholdamount, the image processor 326 determines that the rider 12 has notfallen (step S1335), as in FIG. 14B, for example, but if the size of therider 12 in the second image has decreased more than the thresholdamount, the image processor 326 determines that the rider 12 has fallen(step S1340), as in FIG. 14C, for example. In this embodiment, a sizedecrease relative to a first (or reference) image is used to account forvarious shapes and sizes of riders, but other approaches may be used,including, for example, determining the size of the rider 12 (or otherobject indicative of the water-sports participant) and comparing it to areference size stored in the memory 324, for example.

In the method discussed with reference to FIG. 13 , the distance thatthe rider 12 (or other object indicative of the water-sportsparticipant) is behind the boat 100 is used to determine if thewater-sports participant has fallen. The distance of the rider 12 behindthe boat 100 is calculated from the captured image, but other methodsmay be used to determine if the rider has exceeded a predetermineddistance behind the boat.

FIG. 15 is a schematic of the boat 100 with a surfer (water-sportsparticipant) behind the boat 100. As noted above, a plurality of imagesensors 310 may be used, and in this embodiment, the image sensors 310are image sensors of different types. One image sensor 310 is a visualimage sensor (camera 312) that is mounted on the tower 160 in the mannerdiscussed above, for example, and another is a radar sensor 314 or aLiDAR sensor 316 positioned on the transom 114 in one of the positionsdiscussed above. The radar sensor 314 or LiDAR sensor 316 can be used todetermine the distance the water-sport participant (rider 12) is fromthe boat 100, and when the distance exceeds a certain amount (thresholdor predetermined amount) or is not detected, the image processor 326determines that the rider has fallen. Image processing of a visual imagecaptured by the camera 312 may also be used to help eliminate falsedeterminations of a rider being down or up, as the object recognitionusing the image processor 326 can be used to identify which objectsshould be tracked and which distances should be used for the appropriaterider down determination.

The embodiments discussed above have been described with a singlewater-sports participant being detected and the notification (or otheraction) made when he or she falls. However, the embodiments andapproaches discussed herein may be used for water sports and ridersinvolving multiple water-sports participants. FIG. 16 , for example, isan image captured by an image sensor 310 located on the port side of theboat 100 (such as image sensor 310 c, image sensor 310 e, or imagesensor 310 g in FIG. 6 ). In the image there are two riders 12 andsurfboards 14, and the image processor 326 is configured to detect bothriders 12 and/or surfboards 14 and determine if one or both of theriders 12 have fallen. The rider-down output discussed above may begenerated when the image processor 326 determines that one of the tworiders 12 is down. In other embodiments, the image processor maygenerate the output when it determines that both of the riders 12 aredown. In this example, both of the riders 12 are wake surfers, surfingin a tandem arrangement, but the systems and methods discussed hereinmay be configured to detect riders engaged in different water sportssimultaneously, such as a wake surfer and a foiler farther behind thewake surfer on the wake. The multiple detected water-sports participantsmay be detected even when they are not in a tandem arrangement, such as,for example, one surfer on the port side of the boat, and the other onthe starboard side of the boat 100. In addition, the multiplewater-sports participants can be more than two.

As discussed above with reference to FIG. 7 , the controller 320 isconfigured to execute a rider-down action (step S730) once the imageprocessor 326 determines that the rider has fallen (step S720) and/orthe controller 320 receives the rider-down output. Various suitablerider-down actions may be taken by the controller 320.

In one embodiment, the rider-down action is an alert. As shown in FIG. 5, the controller 320 is communicatively coupled to at least oneindicator 340. When the image processor 326 determines that the riderhas fallen, the controller 320 transmits an output to the indicator 340to alert the driver or others that the rider has fallen. This output isreferred to herein as an indicator output. Any suitable indicator 340may be used to issue the alert. For example, the indicator may be one ofthe displays on the control console 180, such as the center display 182.Upon receipt of the indicator output from the controller 320, the centerdisplay 182 displays the alert to indicate that the rider has fallen.The alert may take any suitable form, including, for example, a symbol,text, and/or coloring of the display. A light 342 is another suitableindicator 340. When the image processor 326 determines that the riderhas fallen, the controller 320 transmits an output to turn the light 342on. Alternatively, the light 342 may be configured to flash to providethe alert that the rider has fallen. The light 342 may be located on thecontrol console 180, for example. A speaker 344 is another suitableindicator 340. The controller 320 may be configured to transmit anoutput that causes the speaker 344 to issue an audible alert. Thespeaker 344 is schematically shown in FIG. 5 as being separate from theaudio system 330, but one or more of the speakers 170 of the audiosystem 330 may be used as the indicator 340. The audible alert may be analarm indicating that the rider has fallen, speech stating that therider has fallen, or both.

The indicator 340 may be a suitable indication that alerts other boatersthat the rider has fallen. For example, the indicator may be a flag 346,such as a so-called “skier-down flag.” FIGS. 17 and 18 show an exampleof an automatic skier-down flag assembly 350. The skier-down flag 346 isa bright red or brilliant orange flag that is at least 12 by 12 inchesin size and mounted on a pole 352 at least 24 inches long. Some statesrequire that a flag be flown when the rider has fallen or is preparingto get up. FIG. 19 shows the boat 100 with the automatic skier-down flagassembly 350 attached thereto. The skier-down flag 346 may be attachedto the boat 100 at any suitable location visible to observers outside ofthe boat 100 including, for example, on the tower 160, such as on one ofthe port leg 162 or the starboard leg 164, or on the windshield 104.

When the image processor 326 determines that the rider has fallen, thecontroller 320 transmits an output to deploy the skier-down flag 346.Various suitable mechanisms may be used to deploy the skier-down flag346. The flag, more specifically the pole 352, may be movably attachedto the boat 100 and can move between a non-deployed position (FIG. 17 )and a deployed position (FIG. 18 ) by rotating (e.g., pivoting about apivot point). In this embodiment, the skier-down flag 346 is moved by anactuator 354 to rotate the skier-down flag 346 and, more specifically,the pole 352 about the pivot point. The controller 320 is configured tooperate the actuator 354 to move the skier-down flag 346 between thenon-deployed position and the deployed position. The controller 320 maybe configured to move the light 342 to the deployed position when theimage processor 326 determines the rider is down. The skier-down flag346 may be moved in other ways, such as by translation (e.g., beingraised linearly or telescopically).

Other suitable mechanisms may be used to deploy the skier-down flag 346.For example, a biasing member, such as a spring, may be used to providethe motive force to move the skier-down flag 346 from the non-deployedposition to the deployed position. The skier-down flag 346 may be heldin the non-deployed position by a latch. In this example, the indicatoroutput from the controller 320 to deploy the flag may release the latchsuch as by operating a solenoid.

As shown in FIG. 5 , the controller 320 is also communicatively coupledto other systems on the boat 100, such as the propulsion system 200, forexample. When the image processor 326 determines that the rider hasfallen (e.g., the controller 320 receives the rider-down output),rider-down output may be used to trigger other actions on the boat 100.For example, upon determination by the image processor 326 that therider is down, the controller 320 may reduce the speed of the boat 100.The controller 320 is communicatively coupled to the propulsion system200, and upon determination by the image processor 326 that the rider isdown, the controller 320 may operate the propulsion system 200, such asby operating the throttle 214, to reduce the speed (revolutions perminute, “rpms”) of the engine 210. The controller 320 may move thethrottle 214 to an idle position (rpm speed). In another approach, thecontroller 320 may change the set speed of the cruise control. In afurther approach, the controller 320 may place the drive train inneutral.

The controller 320 is also communicatively coupled to the audio system330 for the boat 100. Upon determination by the image processor 326 thatthe rider is down, the controller 320 may adjust the audio system 330.For example, the controller 320 may reduce the volume output by thespeakers 170 of the audio system 330 or even mute the speakers 170.Further, the controller 320 may be configured to control the audiosource 334 upon determination by the image processor 326 that the rideris down. When the audio source 334 has the ability to pause (e.g., aplayback device or device streaming audio), the controller 320 may beconfigured to pause playing the audio from the audio source 334 upondetermination by the image processor 326 that the rider is down.

In the discussion above, the actions by the controller 320 to operatethe audio system 330 when the rider is down occur automatically when theimage processor 326 determines that the rider is down. The controller320 also may be responsive to other inputs from the operator that areindicative of a rider being down and adjust the audio system 330, asdiscussed above, in response to those other inputs. For example, theoperator may “chop” the throttle (control lever 212) when he or shedetermines that the rider is down or receives the alert from theindicator 340 that the rider is down. The controller 320 may beconfigured to monitor the propulsion system 200, and, more specifically,in this embodiment, the engine 210, the throttle 214, and/or the controllever 212.

When the operator moves the control lever 212 to reduce the speed of theengine 210, the controller 320 may detect such a deceleration as anindication that the rider is down. The controller 320 may detect thatthe rpms of the engine 210 have decreased from operating speeds for thewater sport (e.g., 3000 rpms to 3500 rpms) to a speed closer to idle(e.g., 1000 rpms) or even idle (e.g., 700 rpms). In some embodiments,the indication that the rider has fallen is a decrease in engine rpmsover a predetermined period of time. The reduction in rpms may be atleast 500 rpms, more preferably at least 1000 rpms, even more preferably1500 rpms, and still more preferably 2000 rpms. The period of time forthis reduction may be, for example, one second or less. In otherembodiments, the indication that the rider has fallen is a decrease inthe speed of the boat 100 over a predetermined period of time. Forsurfing and similar water sports, the reduction in speed may be fromsurf speeds, such as 10 mph to 12 mph, to speeds of about 4 mph to 8 mphfor a reduction of from 2 mph to 8 mph. For other water sports thatoccur when the boat 100 is on plane, such as wakeboarding, the reductionmay be to speed below planing, such as preferably less than 15 mph andmore preferably less than 10 mph. In wakeboarding, for example, such aspeed differential would be from wakeboarding speed of 17 mph to 23 mph.The period of time for the speed reduction may be, for example, severalseconds, such as between 2 seconds and 10 seconds. In some embodiments,where the boat is planing for example, the indication that the rider hasfallen may simply be a reduction in speed, such as when the boat reducesspeed below a threshold speed without considering the period of timeover which the speed reduction occurs. In other embodiments, theindication that the rider has fallen may be from a sensor indicating thecontrol lever 212 has been placed in neutral.

In some embodiments, this control of the audio system 330 based ondeacceleration may only be active in a particular mode, such as one ofthe tow modes. Accordingly, the controller 320 may activate (ordeactivate) the audio control when the rider falls, based on a userselecting a user-selectable element (e.g., the surf button 195).

The rider-down analyses (step S720) discussed above have generally beendesigned to implement steps in the analysis to minimize the likelihoodof false positives. A false positive includes, for example, identifyinga person in the image, but the identified person is not the rider. Insuch a case, the image processor will not indicate the rider has fallen,when in fact, the rider may have fallen. Another example of a falsepositive may occur when the rider is just getting up (starting). In manycases, the rider will start in the water, and in such cases some of theanalysis methods discussed above would determine that the rider is downand provide an alert or other action. When getting started, however, thealerts that the rider is down (or other actions taken when the rider isdown) may not be desired. As noted above with reference to the processdiscussed in FIG. 7 , the controller 320 activates the process in stepS705. The side display 184 may include a button (rider down alert button304 shown in FIG. 5 ) used to activate or deactivate the rider-downanalysis. Additionally or alternatively, the rider-down analysis may beperformed only when operating in a particular mode, such as a tow mode,and thus the controller 320 activates the rider-down analysis when oneof the surf button 195, the wake button 197, or the ski button 199 isselected, and deactivates the rider-down analysis when the chill button193 is selected or the boat 100 is operating in the drive mode (e.g.,the drive button 191 is selected).

In other embodiments, the controller 320 activates the rider-downanalysis based on the operation of the boat 100. Typically, the boat 100is stopped or moving slowly as the rider is in the water getting ready.Once ready, the driver begins to accelerate the boat 100. As notedabove, the controller 320 is communicatively coupled to the propulsionsystem 200 and/or other sensors (such as GPS receivers) to monitor theoperation of the propulsion system 200, such as the speed of the engine210 or the speed of the boat 100. The rider-down analysis may beactivated based on this acceleration. For example, the controller 320may activate (enable) the rider-down analysis after a predeterminedamount of time (e.g., 5 seconds) has elapsed from when the boat 100begins to accelerate. In another example, the controller 320 activatesthe rider-down analysis after the boat reaches a threshold speed orsustains operation above the threshold speed for the predeterminedamount of time.

In the examples discussed above, the controller 320 activates therider-down analysis, but instead of (or in addition to) activating ordeactivating the rider-down analysis, the controller 320 may activatethe rider-down actions. For example, the rider-down analysis may proceedin the background, but the controller 320 activates or deactivates thealerts based on the conditions discussed above.

Although this invention has been described with respect to certainspecific exemplary embodiments, many additional modifications andvariations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of thisdisclosure. It is, therefore, to be understood that this invention maybe practiced otherwise than as specifically described. Thus, theexemplary embodiments of the invention should be considered in allrespects to be illustrative and not restrictive, and the scope of theinvention to be determined by any claims supportable by this applicationand the equivalents thereof, rather than by the foregoing description.

What is claimed is:
 1. A boat comprising: a stern; an image sensorpositioned on the boat to have a field of view of an environment aft ofthe stern of the boat, the image sensor configured to capture at leastone image of the environment aft of the stern of the boat, theenvironment captured in the at least one image including a water surfaceaft of the boat; an image processor communicatively coupled to the imagesensor, the image processor configured to execute a rider-down analysis,the rider-down analysis including: receiving the at least one image fromthe image sensor; analyzing, using an object recognition processexecuted by the image processor, an image to be analyzed to determine ifa water-sports participant has fallen, the image to be analyzedincluding the at least one image captured by the image sensor; and acontroller communicatively coupled to the image processor and configuredto execute a rider-down action based upon the rider-down analysis, thecontroller executing the rider-down action when the image processordetermines that the water-sports participant has fallen.
 2. The boat ofclaim 1, wherein analyzing the image to be analyzed to determine if thewater-sports participant has fallen includes: identifying, using theobject recognition process executed by the image processor, whether ornot an object indicative of the water-sports participant is present inthe image to be analyzed; and determining that the water-sportsparticipant has fallen when the object indicative of the water-sportsparticipant is not present in the image to be analyzed.
 3. The boat ofclaim 1, wherein analyzing the image to be analyzed to determine if thewater-sports participant has fallen includes: defining an analysisregion in the image to be analyzed; identifying, using the objectrecognition process executed by the image processor, whether or not anobject indicative of the water-sports participant is present in theanalysis region; and determining that the water-sports participant hasfallen when the object indicative of the water-sports participant is notpresent in the analysis region.
 4. The boat of claim 1, whereinanalyzing the image to be analyzed to determine if the water-sportsparticipant has fallen includes: identifying, using the objectrecognition process executed by the image processor, a person in theimage to be analyzed; identifying, using the object recognition processexecuted by the image processor, a piece of water-sports equipment inthe image to be analyzed; calculating a distance between the person andthe piece of water-sports equipment in the image to be analyzed; anddetermining that the water-sports participant has fallen when thecalculated distance between the person and the piece of water-sportsequipment is greater than a threshold distance.
 5. The boat of claim 1,wherein the image sensor is configured to capture a plurality ofsequential images of the environment aft of the stern of the boat, theplurality of sequential images including a first image and a secondimage, the second image being subsequent to the first image, and whereineach of the first image and the second image are images to be analyzed,and analyzing the images to be analyzed to determine if the water-sportsparticipant has fallen includes: receiving the plurality of sequentialimages from the image sensor; identifying, using the object recognitionprocess executed by the image processor, an object indicative of thewater-sports participant in the first image; determining the size of theobject indicative of the water-sports participant in the first image;identifying, using an object recognition process executed by the imageprocessor, the object indicative of the water-sports participant in thesecond image; determining the size of the object indicative of thewater-sports participant in the second image; and determining that thewater-sports participant has fallen when the size of the objectindicative of the water-sports participant has decreased by a thresholdamount.
 6. The boat of claim 1, further comprising a user input devicecommunicatively coupled to the controller, the user input deviceincluding a plurality of user-selectable elements at least one of theplurality of user-selectable elements corresponding to a water sport,wherein the controller is configured to activate or deactivate (i) therider-down analysis, (ii) the rider-down action, or (iii) both, thecontroller activating at least one of the rider-down analysis and therider-down action when the user-selectable element corresponding to thewater sport is selected, and the controller deactivating at least one ofthe rider-down analysis and the rider-down action when theuser-selectable element corresponding to the water sport is notselected.
 7. The boat of claim 1, further comprising a sensor configuredto detect acceleration of the boat, wherein the controller is configuredto activate or deactivate (i) the rider-down analysis, (ii) therider-down action, or (iii) both, the controller activating at least oneof the rider-down analysis and the rider-down action based on theacceleration of the boat.
 8. The boat of claim 7, wherein the controlleractivates at least one of the rider-down analysis and the rider-downaction after a threshold amount of time has elapsed from when the boatbegins acceleration.
 9. The boat of claim 1, further comprising a sensorcommunicatively coupled to the controller configured to detect the speedof the boat, wherein the controller is configured to activate ordeactivate (i) the rider-down analysis, (ii) the rider-down action, or(iii) both, the controller activating at least one of the rider-downanalysis and the rider-down action when based on the speed of the boat.10. The boat of claim 9, wherein the controller activates at least oneof the rider-down analysis and the rider-down action after the boatreaches a threshold speed.
 11. The boat of claim 1, further comprisingan indicator communicatively coupled to the controller, the indicatorconfigured to receive an indicator output from the controller andprovide an alert indicating that the water-sports participant hasfallen, the indicator output being the rider-down action.
 12. The boatof claim 11, wherein the indicator is a display screen configured todisplay the alert.
 13. A boat comprising: a stern; an image sensorpositioned on the boat to have a field of view of an environment aft ofthe stern of the boat, the image sensor configured to capture at leastone image of the environment aft of the stern of the boat, theenvironment captured in the at least one image including a water surfaceaft of the boat; and an image processor communicatively coupled to theimage sensor, the image processor configured to: receive the at leastone image from the image sensor; define an analysis region in an imageto be analyzed, the image to be analyzed including the at least oneimage captured by the image sensor, the analysis region including aportion of the water surface corresponding to a set distance rangebehind the boat; identify, using an object recognition process executedby the image processor, whether or not an object indicative of awater-sports participant is present in the analysis region; anddetermine that the water-sports participant has fallen when the objectindicative of the water-sports participant is not present in theanalysis region.
 14. The boat of claim 13, wherein the object indicativeof the water-sports participant is a piece of water-sports equipment.15. The boat of claim 13, wherein the object indicative of thewater-sports participant is at least a portion of a person's body. 16.The boat of claim 15, wherein the portion of a person's body includes aportion of the person's body other than the head.
 17. The boat of claim13, further comprising: a user input device including a plurality ofuser-selectable elements each corresponding to a different water sport;and a controller communicatively coupled to the user input device; thecontroller being configured to receive an input from the user inputdevice corresponding to a selected water sport and set at least one of afield of view or the set distance range of the analysis region based onthe selected water sport.
 18. The boat of claim 17, wherein one of theplurality of user-selectable elements corresponds to a first water sportand another one of the plurality of user-selectable elements correspondsto a second water sport, wherein the controller sets the set distancerange to be a range from a minimum distance to maximum distance inresponse to the input from user input device corresponding to theselected water sport, the maximum distance for the first water sportbeing a distance that is less than the maximum distance for the secondwater sport.
 19. A boat comprising: a propulsion system including apropulsion motor and a propulsor; an audio system including at least onespeaker and an audio source; and a controller operatively coupled to theaudio system, the controller being configured to monitor the propulsionsystem to detect a rapid deacceleration and to pause playing the audiofrom the audio source when the controller detects the rapiddeacceleration.
 20. The boat of claim 19, wherein the controller isconfigured to monitor the speed of the propulsion motor and thecontroller detects a rapid deacceleration when the speed of thepropulsion motor decreases by a predetermined amount in a predeterminedperiod of time.